diff --git a/bin/gniza b/bin/gniza
index 3994867..179ce69 100755
--- a/bin/gniza
+++ b/bin/gniza
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ cmd_restore() {
         account)
             local name="${1:-}"
             shift 2>/dev/null || true
-            [[ -z "$name" ]] && die "Usage: gniza restore account <name> [--remote=NAME] [--timestamp=TS] [--strategy=merge|terminate] [--force]"
+            [[ -z "$name" ]] && die "Usage: gniza restore account <name> [--remote=NAME] [--timestamp=TS] [--force]"
 
             local config_file; config_file=$(get_opt config "$@" 2>/dev/null) || config_file="$DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE"
             load_config "$config_file"
@@ -304,18 +304,10 @@ cmd_restore() {
             _restore_load_remote "$remote_flag"
 
             local timestamp; timestamp=$(get_opt timestamp "$@" 2>/dev/null) || timestamp=""
-            local strategy; strategy=$(get_opt strategy "$@" 2>/dev/null) || strategy=""
             local exclude; exclude=$(get_opt exclude "$@" 2>/dev/null) || exclude=""
-            # Backward compat: --force maps to strategy=merge
-            if [[ -z "$strategy" ]] && has_flag force "$@"; then
-                strategy="merge"
-            fi
-            if [[ -n "$strategy" ]] && [[ "$strategy" != "merge" ]] && [[ "$strategy" != "terminate" ]]; then
-                die "Invalid strategy: $strategy (must be 'merge' or 'terminate')"
-            fi
 
             _test_connection
-            restore_full_account "$name" "$timestamp" "$strategy" "$exclude"
+            restore_full_account "$name" "$timestamp" "" "$exclude"
             ;;
         files)
             local name="${1:-}"
diff --git a/lib/restore.sh b/lib/restore.sh
index 48973b9..757bff7 100644
--- a/lib/restore.sh
+++ b/lib/restore.sh
@@ -57,16 +57,10 @@ _detect_pkgacct_base() {
 restore_full_account() {
     local user="$1"
     local timestamp="${2:-}"
-    local strategy="${3:-}"
+    local _unused="${3:-}"  # formerly strategy, kept for call-site compat
     local exclude="${4:-}"
     local temp_dir="${TEMP_DIR:-$DEFAULT_TEMP_DIR}"
 
-    # Validate strategy
-    if [[ -n "$strategy" ]] && [[ "$strategy" != "merge" ]] && [[ "$strategy" != "terminate" ]]; then
-        log_error "Invalid strategy: $strategy (must be 'merge' or 'terminate')"
-        return 1
-    fi
-
     # Resolve timestamp
     local ts; ts=$(resolve_snapshot_timestamp "$user" "$timestamp") || return 1
     local snap_dir; snap_dir=$(get_snapshot_dir "$user")
@@ -74,22 +68,6 @@ restore_full_account() {
 
     log_info "Restoring full account: $user from snapshot $ts"
 
-    # Check if account already exists
-    if account_exists "$user" && [[ -z "$strategy" ]]; then
-        log_error "Account $user already exists. Use --strategy=merge or --strategy=terminate to proceed."
-        return 1
-    fi
-
-    # Terminate strategy: remove existing account first
-    if [[ "$strategy" == "terminate" ]] && account_exists "$user"; then
-        log_info "Terminating existing account $user (--strategy=terminate)..."
-        if ! /scripts/removeacct --keepdns "$user"; then
-            log_error "Failed to terminate account $user"
-            return 1
-        fi
-        log_info "Account $user terminated, proceeding with clean restore"
-    fi
-
     local restore_dir="$temp_dir/restore-$user"
     mkdir -p "$restore_dir" || {
         log_error "Failed to create restore temp directory"
@@ -149,20 +127,14 @@ restore_full_account() {
         find "$mysql_dir" -name "*.sql.gz" -exec gunzip -f {} \;
     fi
 
-    # Run restorepkg
+    # Run restorepkg (--force to merge into existing account if present)
     log_info "Running restorepkg for $user..."
-    if [[ "$strategy" == "merge" ]] && account_exists "$user"; then
-        if ! /scripts/restorepkg --force "$restore_dir/$user"; then
-            log_error "restorepkg failed for $user"
-            rm -rf "$restore_dir"
-            return 1
-        fi
-    else
-        if ! /scripts/restorepkg "$restore_dir/$user"; then
-            log_error "restorepkg failed for $user"
-            rm -rf "$restore_dir"
-            return 1
-        fi
+    local -a restorepkg_args=()
+    account_exists "$user" && restorepkg_args+=(--force)
+    if ! /scripts/restorepkg "${restorepkg_args[@]}" "$restore_dir/$user"; then
+        log_error "restorepkg failed for $user"
+        rm -rf "$restore_dir"
+        return 1
     fi
 
     # Build exclude args for homedir phase
diff --git a/whm/gniza-whm/lib/GnizaWHM/Runner.pm b/whm/gniza-whm/lib/GnizaWHM/Runner.pm
index b4bb9dc..e581657 100644
--- a/whm/gniza-whm/lib/GnizaWHM/Runner.pm
+++ b/whm/gniza-whm/lib/GnizaWHM/Runner.pm
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ my %OPT_PATTERNS = (
     timestamp => qr/^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{6}$/,
     path      => qr/^[a-zA-Z0-9_.\/@ -]+$/,
     account   => qr/^[a-z][a-z0-9_-]*$/,
-    strategy  => qr/^(merge|terminate)$/,
     exclude   => qr/^[a-zA-Z0-9_.,\/@ *?\[\]-]+$/,
 );
 
diff --git a/whm/gniza-whm/restore.cgi b/whm/gniza-whm/restore.cgi
index 27b4143..c3d4217 100644
--- a/whm/gniza-whm/restore.cgi
+++ b/whm/gniza-whm/restore.cgi
@@ -850,7 +850,6 @@ sub handle_step3 {
     my $emails       = $form->{'emails'}       // '';
     my $domain_names = $form->{'domain_names'} // '';
     my $ssl_names      = $form->{'ssl_names'}      // '';
-    my $strategy       = $form->{'strategy'}       // '';
     my $exclude_paths  = $form->{'exclude_paths'}  // '';
 
     # Collect selected types from type_* checkboxes
@@ -968,7 +967,6 @@ sub handle_step4 {
     my $emails       = $form->{'emails'}       // '';
     my $domain_names = $form->{'domain_names'} // '';
     my $ssl_names      = $form->{'ssl_names'}      // '';
-    my $strategy       = $form->{'strategy'}       // '';
     my $exclude_paths  = $form->{'exclude_paths'}  // '';
 
     # Collect selected types
@@ -990,7 +988,6 @@ sub handle_step4 {
     for my $type (@selected_types) {
         my %opts = (remote => $remote);
         $opts{timestamp} = $timestamp if $timestamp ne '';
-        $opts{strategy} = $strategy if $strategy ne '' && $type eq 'account';
 
         if ($SIMPLE_TYPES{$type}) {
             $opts{exclude} = $exclude_paths if $exclude_paths ne '' && $type eq 'account';